About the Book

Lewis ‘Lew’ B. Castner, my maternal grandfather was a night watchman/boilerman when he passed away at the age of 75 on March 11, 1963.  Lew was an ordinary, hard-working man, neither financially wealthy nor famous.  However, Lew was wealthy with friends and family, the rooms at the funeral home in Belvidere were packed with people.  Lew’s funeral service provided inspiration for this book.  The pastor gave a short sermon; he then asked if anyone cared to tell a tale about my grandfather.  A number of people, one after another, stood up and told a story about Lew.  I was eight, and wished that I had a pad and a pen to record the stories, regretting that they would be lost to memory.

The compilation of these stories, as poems, is to preserve them from being lost to memory.  Bloodroot was the name of a plant displayed in my botany class at West Virginia Wesleyan College.  The stem when cut resembles bleeding.  In regards to genealogical bloodlines I concluded that the term Bloodroot would be a good title for this collection of mostly family stories.  My daughter Beth Ann suggested the title 101 Dadmations, and the two were combined: Bloodroot: 101 Dadmations.

About the Author

Tim Lewis Rue was born August 5, 1954 at Monroe Hospital in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania but raised in Pahaquarry Township, Warren County, above the Delaware Water Gap, on the New Jersey side.  At the age of 15 Tim moved to Belvidere, New Jersey; he graduated from Belvidere High School in 1972.  He graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology.  Tim has worked as a laboratory technician.  Tim married Mary Margaret Jago from Harmony Township, Warren County, New Jersey in 1981.  Tim and Mary moved across the Delaware River and raised three children: Catherine Mary, Elizabeth Ann and Daniel Lewis in Lower Mount Bethel Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.

The author’s interest in history and genealogy led to articles being published in The Warren County Companion magazine in the early 1990s.  Tim wrote a newspaper series in 1995 entitled Where Were You When World War II Ended, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the war’s end.  Friends and relatives were interviewed about their wartime experiences for this series.  Tim coached Lower Mount Bethel soccer teams in the late 1990s.  He served as a merit badge counselor starting in 2002, then for a period of time as an Assistant Scout Master for the Boy Scouts of America.